No claims discount confusion

Amateurd

I have been with the same insurer for several years. I don't have NCD protection.

2 years ago I was in an accident, all this was paid out by the insurer despite being the other driver's fault (they were driving a stolen vehicle and ran off). The claim is therefore recorded as an "at fault" even though I was stationary at the time

The insurer didn't raise the premium, and handled everything OK.

Since then, each renewal letter includes the recorded accident, but always says I have 3 years No Claims. At most it should say 2.

How come?

And if I needed to switch to another insurer, could I still declare I have 3 years NCD (since it's on the letter)?

jbainbridge

My understanding was that insurers deduct 2 years when you have a claim .. does that help?

Amateurd

jbainbridge said:

My understanding was that insurers deduct 2 years when you have a claim .. does that help?

Well the confusion is around why they didn't deduct anything at all. The number never goes up or down, always says 3.

uknick

How many years did you have before the accident?  You say you've been with your insurer for several years, to my mind that means considerably more than 3 years.  You also need to check your policy to see how many years are removed for an at fault  accident.  Don't assume it's all of them.  Finally, as you were hit by an uninsured driver, again check your insurance company's policy on this, they may not adjust your no claims.

To sum up, check your policy.

Advocado

jbainbridge said:

My understanding was that insurers deduct 2 years when you have a claim .. does that help?

No way!  I didn't know that.  I always assumed that if I made a claim I lost all my no claims and had to start again.  

I also understand that the maximum discount you get is about 40%, regardless of the number of years you've had insurance.

neilmcl

If you have your latest renewal letter with 3 years NCD then that is what you declare with any other insurer. That is your proof of NCD, whether you think it's correct or not is irrelevant, you can only go on what your current insurer is giving you.

Amateurd

neilmcl said:

If you have your latest renewal letter with 3 years NCD then that is what you declare with any other insurer. That is your proof of NCD, whether you think it's correct or not is irrelevant, you can only go on what your current insurer is giving you.

Brilliant, thanks

Sandtree

Advocado said:

jbainbridge said:

My understanding was that insurers deduct 2 years when you have a claim .. does that help?

No way!  I didn't know that.  I always assumed that if I made a claim I lost all my no claims and had to start again.  

I also understand that the maximum discount you get is about 40%, regardless of the number of years you've had insurance.

Different insurers have different approaches to NCD... traditionally max NCD was somewhere between 70% and 80% with max being hit at somewhere between 5 and 9 years. There was no relationship between max discount and number of years to get there; some of the 5 year max ncd were giving bigger discounts than those that gave max at 9 years.

Even what you drop to on a fault claim varies... many have you drop to 3 years if you are 5 years plus and drop by 2 years if you have less however others do drop 2 irrespective of your total.